"Test me", a homily by Christa Levesque, Pastoral Care & Counseling Intern

I love the psalms. I always remember loving the psalms, probably because in the church I grew up in we chanted the psalm every Sunday, and I love to chant! The tone would get stuck in my head, and my sister and I would chant back and forth to each other throughout the week… “Jenna, would you get me water?” “No, sissy, I will not!” But I think there was more to me liking the psalms than a catchy tune. As I grew older I loved reading the psalms because they were filled with emotion. One moment the writer is happy, the next moment sad. One moment praising God for all God’s glory, the next asking why there is such tribulation in life. The psalms are works of art, and artful prayer.

I now love that psalms are ways to meditate and pray. They are sacred words, God’s word that can be spoken back to God in a form of prayer. Out of all 150 of them, Psalm 139 has to be one of my favorites because something new catches me every time. This time when I read it, what stuck out was the second to last verse: “Search me out, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my restless thoughts.” Try me, Lord. Test me, God.

I don’t know that I would always pray to God to test me. I think I most often want to pray to God “Keep me comfortable!” “I’m happy Lord, no need to try me right now!” or “I’m being tried enough in every area of my life, please don’t try me any more.”

You better believe that when I first received my assignment to come to Alliance, I was scared. I had restless thoughts. Anxious thoughts. What was I getting myself into? Sure, I asked for an agency placement. Sure, I said I wanted to learn and grow and be stretched, especially in the area of pastoral care. But I’m more likely to pick safe over new. I’m more likely to feel confident in a church, not a medical clinic. I truly believe that God knew my heart. God knew that it was time for me to step out of the comfort zone of the Episcopal Church and into a brand new experience.

Test me, Lord. Know how nervous I am. Try me, know my anxiety, and quell it. The beginning of this psalm says it all: “Lord, you have searched me out and known me… Indeed there is not a word on my lips, but you, O Lord, know it all together… Where can I go then from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” Lord, you are always with me.

I have so profoundly felt God’s Spirit moving here, through my interactions with patients, with staff, and with Toby. While I may have been like a deer in the headlights when I first got here, God has worked in me and helped me to become a more confident pastoral counselor than I ever believed I could be. God took my restless thoughts, and made them holy. God worked through the anxiety and fear, and made it into a gift and blessing.

God is working like this in all of our lives right now. We are all stressed about something; and God knows that. God hears those anxious thoughts, those fears that we have. And God will never leave us. The last words of this psalm pray to God- “lead me in the way that is everlasting.”

As I leave here, I move into another time of transition. Graduating, being ordained, moving, starting a new job, and preparing for marriage. I think the only way I will make it through this time is to pray to God and remind myself that God know these thoughts. God is trying me- God is calling, and I am following the call as anxiety-inducing as it is. As much as I want to pray for the comfortable, the happy, the non-anxiety-producing, I know that God knows my heart. God knows that following the call means being restless, and feeling tried and tested. And this is true for all of us- following God is not always easy, happy, and calm. But we know: we can never flee from God’s presence; the Spirit is never far from us. God listens when we pray: “Search me out, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my restless thoughts. Look well whether there be any wickedness in me and lead me in the way that is everlasting.” Amen. 

3-2-1...Blast Off! The 2015 launch of Alliance's Community Garden

By: Kelsey Riggs, Garden Coordinator

Last Saturday was Alliance’s Garden Launch and...mission accomplished! It was a great workday. We had volunteers from Service Raleigh, Edenton Street United Methodist Church, Activate Good, and the Raleigh Fellows Program. The garden was filled with extra hands ready to work, and those hands were such a blessing. We weeded the garden and mulched where we weeded in hopes that the weeds do not come back; for those of you growing your own vegetable gardens, know this is a very important task to do in early spring!

Garden volunteers prepared more land for tilling by removing the grass and adding leaf mulch and compost to add nutrients to the soil. Our last group sanded and spray painted donated bamboo; later this week, I will construct a large bamboo teepee upon which to grow pole beans. We're looking forward to this creative project, and hope once it is finished that children will be able to explore inside the teepee and see the plants growing!  

Although it was too cold to plant our seedlings, the ground is ready for them when the temperatures warm up! At the end of the workday, we had all the volunteers gather together and our Director of Pastoral Care, Toby Bonar, dedicated the garden to our patients and neighbors, and asked that the Lord bless our garden and make it fruitful:  

Many thanks to all who came to this special event and help "make our garden grow"!  If you'd like to get involved in our Community Garden, we hope you'll join us at one of our two monthly garden workdays: the fourth Saturday of the month from 9:30 am to 12:00 pm, or the second Wednesday of the month from 5 to 6:30 pm.  Contact me with questions, garden@alliancemedicalministry.org.

"Eternally grateful"

By: Dr. Tara Burnett-Lewis, Medical Director

"Relationship".  When most people hear the word or see it in print, visions of romantic evenings or walks along the beach may come to mind.  Over the last several months, I’ve used this word frequently when explaining my thoughts about medicine. Simply put:  when you have good relationships, you have good medicine.

Being able to walk in a room and know when something is different about a person based on the long relationship you've had with them is invaluable as a physician. Body language tells me what the person may be too frightened to say with his or her mouth.  As a doctor at this practice, I am able to walk with my patients as they journey through the trials of their lives.  

Each day, I'm reminded of how important these relationships are, and why the work I do here is so special.  Today was extra special.

Just before lunch today, a patient came in with her daughter and two granddaughters with a basket of donuts in hand and a card.

While an act of kindness like this is not unusual at Alliance, I was struck by the relationship of the individuals. Standing before me were three generations of women who, thanks to my relationship with our patient, were expressing their gratitude to me. Gratitude for helping their matriarch, their nana. Gratitude for helping her to be more active and available to them thanks to her knee replacement. Gratitude for encouraging her to have more energy to make AMAZING donuts, homemade because her chronic health conditions are under control.

To all of our supporters:  thank you for allowing us to form strong and meaningful relationships with our patients. Thank you for allowing us to provide the comprehensive and holistic care to allow our patients to take back their health and become healthier parents, spouses, and citizens.  We're not just thankful; we're eternally grateful!

Alliance's Community Garden: what does it mean for our patients, and how can you help?

by: Kelsey Riggs & Elizabeth Daniel

How many of us know what ingredients are in our granola bar or those Cheeze-Its?  Probably not many, and if we did know we may not eat them as often!  When we eat foods in their natural form -- and especially when we grow them ourselves -- we know exactly what we are eating.  

Members of Edenton Street United Methodist Church planting, weeding and harvesting in Alliance's garden during their Day of Service. 

At Alliance, our doctors are not only prescribing medicine, they are prescribing healthy eating, exercise, and lifestyle changes. An integral aspect of changing habits is human empowerment through education and increased access to resources. We care deeply about our patients. We strive to create a sense of community for our patients and empower them to take charge of their health. We are able to do that through our community garden!  

Alliance's Medical Director Dr. Tara Burnett-Lewis along with two patients harvesting kale in our community garden after November's "Walk with a Doc"!

Our community garden is a beautiful, hands-on model that encompasses the elements of education and community building we value so deeply. Urban agriculture and community gardens are a growing need in our cities. Alliance's garden is used as an educational tool and a way to produce healthy, organic produce for our patients. It is ever-changing and ever-growing, and we enjoy the chance to learn with each other and our community as it grows each season.  Alliance has chosen to take a small step toward sustainability and self-sufficiency by growing a community garden, but we can't do it without the help of our community! 

Ravenscroft middle school students visit Alliance monthly for garden workdays.

Alliance has many ways for patients, community members, and volunteers to get involved. Every second Wednesday from 5-6:30 and every fourth Saturday from 9:30-12 we have a garden workday. These are great opportunities to dig your hands in the soil and learn first-hand about what goes on in a community garden. In the warmer months, attendees are able to harvest and see the fruits of our labor!

This spring, we plan to plant beans, kale, collards, cabbage, broccoli, beets, spinach, cucumbers, tomatoes and even strawberries and blueberries!  When the garden is producing, we are able to harvest and bag our vegetables to give to our patients after their doctor visits. We like to put produce in each bag along with a related, simple, and healthy recipe, as well as some resources about local farmers markets around the city.

Carina Saavedra, Alliance's former AmeriCorps member, with bags of lettuces and vegetables ready to give to our patients!

On March 28th, we'll celebrate and bless our garden with a Garden Kick-Off!   We'll have seedlings ready to be transplanted into our garden and a few volunteer groups here to help with the effort. Many hands make light work; come one come all!

Buzz on over for Alliance's Garden Launch!

Come learn about Alliance’s garden, transplant our spring seedlings and dedicate the garden to our patients.  
No experience needed!  
 
The clinic will be open for tours.
 
Alliance Medical Ministry,
101 Donald Ross Dr., Raleigh 27610

Interested in learning more about the value and importance of urban farming?  Check out the North Carolina Cooperative Extension and Food and Agriculture Organization of the  United Nations for more information, and contact Kelsey Riggs or Elizabeth Daniel to help at Alliance!

Many thanks to our Garden & Wellness supporters who help keep our garden growing:

Bank of America Foundation
Burt's Bees The Greater Good Foundation
Campbell Road Nursery
Rex Healthcare/UNC Health
The Hillsdale Fund
Community Care Fund of the Doing Good in the Neighborhood Campaign, coordinated by Duke University's Office of Durham & Regional Affairs

Cooking Matters @ the Store - December recap

By: Kelsey Riggs, Garden & Wellness Coordinator

Our December Cooking Matters at the Store grocery store tour was a success! Alliance had the opportunity to team up with Interfaith Food Shuttle for their tour event day. The tour I co-facilitated was a blast!  We had such a lovely group of participants who were eager to learn and were very successful at the end with the ten dollar challenge.

We met at 11:30 at Food Lion and began our tour. We teach economical meal planning from the perspective of trying to fill "My Plate", which demonstrates the five food groups to have at each meal and appropriate food quantity. As we move around the store, we learn helpful tips on buying healthy food on a budget and avoiding marketing or advertising tricks:

Tip #1: Purchase fresh fruits and vegetables IN SEASON! For example, buy strawberries in the summer! They will be delicious and appropriately priced. Do not buy strawberries in the fall, they are loaded with preservatives and are expensive because of travel costs since they must be transported from tropical areas.

Tip #2: Buy whole produce. Prepackaged and other “convenience” forms of produce (bagged, pre-cut, etc.) can cost more than whole forms (bundle of spinach or whole carrots) because you are paying for the “labor of processing.”

Tip #3: Pay attention to unit price. When comparing the cost of buying individually versus in bulk produce or buying the medium container of milk versus the large, do not be tricked!! Compare unit price to discover the truly better deal!

Once we finish our educational tour, our patients participate in "The Ten Dollar Challenge".  They receive a Food Lion gift card for ten dollars, which which they must buy at least one item in every food group on "My Plate" that follows our healthy eating guidelines. The patients love this exercise!  For one thing, they get a free re-usable grocery bag and ten dollars of free groceries. In addition, it gives them a chance to practice all the skills they just learned in the tour. They always come back with smiles on their faces. One patient of ours came up to me when we were checking her out and said, “This is just unreal. I can’t believe I’m getting all this for under ten dollars.” One hour at the store can positively change how these men and women grocery shop for the rest of their lives! 

"Fall is in the Air" at Alliance - by Elizabeth Daniel

Alliance held its inaugural “Pedal for Patients” bike event on Sunday afternoon, and over 30 bike enthusiasts gathered at Anderson Point Park for the recreational ride!  The weather was simply perfect! Clear, sapphire blue sky, bright, warm sunshine, and a gentle breeze swirling fall’s golden, brown leaves.  National Charity League volunteers greeted the bikers while Flythe Cyclery offered “last-minute” bike adjustments.  Most participants accepted the challenge and rode the 15-mile loop along Raleigh’s gorgeous Neuse River Greenway Trail, complete with views of a waterfall at Milburnie Dam and a suspension bridge over the Neuse.  Mileage points and water stations were marked with brightly colored balloons, and our National Charity League volunteers waved the riders along their way. More than nine “patient visits” were sponsored by riders!

‘Tis the season for outdoor fall festivals, fairs and friend gatherings, and Alliance’s 2nd Annual “Fun with Friends” event did not disappoint!  After our bike ride, over 150 Alliance friends met at Alliance for “Fun with Friends”, enjoying the spectacular weather and gorgeous garden setting.

Flanked by the Community Garden (the focal point of the Alliance Wellness Program), Deli-icious, Only Burger, and LadyBug’s Treats food trucks provided dinner options, and Dave Dyer and The Crooked Smile Band performed bluegrass while sharing the Alliance story.  Andrew Leager of Boylan Bridge Brew Pub brought a truck and served complimentary beer from the pub and from Carolina Brewing Company.  Our new friends and partners from FlyWheel Sports brought their stationary bike to advertise the upcoming “Charity Bike or Barre” event to support Alliance…more details on that to come!Flanked by the Community Garden (the focal point of the Alliance Wellness Program), Deli-icious, Only Burger, and LadyBug’s Treats food trucks provided dinner options, and Dave Dyer and The Crooked Smile Band performed bluegrass while sharing the Alliance story.  Andrew Leager of Boylan Bridge Brew Pub brought a truck and served complimentary beer from the pub and from Carolina Brewing Company.  Our new friends and partners from FlyWheel Sports brought their stationary bike to advertise the upcoming “Charity Bike or Barre” event to support Alliance…more details on that to come!

The afternoon was quite relaxing, with families playing cornhole on the lawn, guests dancing to the bluegrass beat, and folks enjoying food truck fare.  Alliance staff gave many tours of Alliance; the engaged crowd was “like a sponge”, “soaking up” information about the clinic and about how Alliance achieves its mission of providing a medical home to working, uninsured Wake County adults.  We’re excited that many folks are interested in volunteering at Alliance; please contact Elizabeth Daniel to find out more!

Alliance is also grateful to the many event hosts and to those who generously gave to “sponsor a patient visit”.  We sponsored a total of 15 patient visits!  If you didn’t have the opportunity to do so at the event, please consider giving a $96.00 “patient visit” TODAY!

The afternoon exceeded our expectations and truly was “Fun with Friends!”  We’d love to hear your feedback of the event and hear suggests for our next open house event.  See you next fall!

Special “thank you” to our host committee:

Carol & George Allen
Marks Arnold
Marlene & Ronnie Batchelor
Diane & Paul Becton
Mary Grady & Vic Bell
May & Mark Bensen
Anna Neal Blanchard
Elizabeth & Martin Borden
Carson & Bryan Brice
Kathy & Garry Brown
Anne & Matt Bullard
Holly Burge & Steve Stafford
Sarah & Chris Capel
Michelle & John Connell
Karen & Andy Cook
Amy & Buck Copeland
Pam & T. Barker Dameron
Laura & Mark Davidson
Elizabeth & Bo Dempster
Pam & Hearon Dickson
Elizabeth & Bill Dixon
Wynn & Jim Dorsett
Angie & Rick Dowd
Jena Edelman
Daphne Edwards
Grace Evans & Jay Butler
Mary Pat Evans
Lisa & Mark Finkelstein
Zack Fleming
Emily & Richard Fountain
Marynell & Ed Gehrke
Tina & Jimmy Glover
Sallie & John Glover
Marcie & Darrell Gordon
Sallie & Gordon Grubb
Bonny & Robert Herrington
Elizabeth & John Hogan
Kathryn & Will Holding
Cindy Holmes
Martha & Ken Howard
Ann & Bill Janvier
Carolyn & Earl Johnson
Helen & Calvin Kirven
Lyn Maness
RuthAnn Marenyi
Louise & Steve McCoy
Beth & Paul McCain
Anne McLaurin & Charles Meeker
Carrie McMillan & David Boaz
Jo Anna & Doug McMillan
Juana & Terry Mikels
Jill & Howard Moye
Lisa & Peter Pace
Megg & Robert Rader
Martha & Franklin Roberts
Mary Nash & John Rusher
Caroline & David Smart
Bettie & David Sousa
Margie & Rocky Springer
Laurie & Sam Sugg
Danny Thomas
Mary & Don Tucker
Merry & Bob Vaughan
Elizabeth & Robert Wallace
Elizabeth & Randall Williams
Mary Clark & Erwin Williams
Harriet & David Wilson
Marion Winston
Diane & Bobby Woronoff
Carter Worthy & Tom Hester

Congratulations to the Grads!

This week marked the end of our last six-week Cooking Matters course.  Taught in conjunction with Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, the weekly classes were taught in English and Spanish, and focus on healthy eating on a budget...our patients are raving about all they have learned!  Each class focused on a different area:  fruits and vegetables, whole grains, proteins, and putting together a healthy meal on a budget.  Part of each class is nutritional instruction -- where the instructor and patients discuss the nutritional content of the meals, -- and the second part is the practical cooking skills needed for each meal, including food and equipment safety.  "Patients really appreciate the class," says Alliance's Wellness Program Coordinator Carina Saavedra. "They want to eat healthier and have recipes that enable them to cook fast, healthy meals for their families. This class really empowers people to make positive changes in their lives."

Alliance patient and Cooking Matters student Gail Johnson couldn't agree more.  "I'm so glad I went to the class!  I was really struggling with my diabetes, and had tried a number of medications at Dr. Lewis' suggestion.  My blood sugar level was over 300; now, after the class and making changes to my cooking and eating habits, my sugar level is, on average, 90, sometimes 80."  Gail says she is loving cooking again, and looks forward to her dinners each day.  "The biggest change I've made is that I'm now very aware of what I'm eating, when I'm eating it.  The hardest time is from 7:00 until bedtime.  If I want to snack then, I eat seedless grapes, raisins, or whole wheat crackers."

The grocery store tour is one of the highlights of the class.  Wellness Program Coordinator Carina Saavedra says that the students "learn things you don't even think to learn about. The tour is broken down into sections of the grocery store.  We talk about how the store is set up, why it's important to buy around the perimeter where the fresh foods are, and why they should steer clear of the center aisles, where more junk foods and expensive packaged foods are located."  Gail says the information learned at the tour has stuck with her.  "When I go to the grocery store now, I shop the perimeter of the store. I get to the check out, and there's no Hamburger Helper, no boxed food...all veggies!"

The tour included reviews of the canned and prepackaged foods. "We look at the convenience items, like prepackaged salad, and talk about the price benefits of buying a head of lettuce or unpackaged spinach. We compared fresh produce to canned and frozen produce, and packaged meats compared to other lean proteins like beans and eggs and Greek yogurts. We talk how confusing the labels can be for wheat, and learned that if it's not '100% whole grain', it's not actually whole grain," says Carina.  At the end of the store tour is the '$10 challenge', where each person must create a meal for a family of four using at least three of the food groups, under $10, using healthy ingredients.  "The patients got so creative! One dinner example used tortillas, salad, beans, peppers and onions.  Another was a stir fry with pasta squash, zucchini, onion and white beans."

Gail's eating and cooking habits have changed dramatically.  "In the beginning of the class, they tell you to 'eat the rainbow'; well, my rainbow was brown and white, all meat and potatoes. Now I'm enjoying cooking fresh and frozen vegetables for dinner.  I've almost completely cut out red meat; I mainly eat fish and chicken.  One of the biggest changes I've made is that I've probably cut out 3/4 of the salt I use to use, and have been using seasonings.  Chef Kevin told us about using Nature's Seasoning, Mrs. Dash, and olive oil.  I've been doing that, and it's working.  I'm not craving salt anymore!"

At graduation, patients received a certification of completion, and take home a 'Cooking Matters' cookbook, take-home grocery bag, meat thermometer, cutting board, and notebook for their own recipes.  Congratulations to all who participated!